After leaving the Prime Minister's Mansion, Feng Yong looked up at the sky and saw the rippling spring sun. The sun shone on him, making him extremely warm.
The streets and alleys of Jincheng were quite lively with people coming and going, but there seemed to be a sense of worry and urgency in the bustle.
The news of the Southern Expedition seemed to be weighing on everyone in Jincheng like a dark cloud.
They had just breathed a sigh of relief from the Yiling defeat three years ago, and the imperial court was about to use troops again. It would be a lie to say that there was no worry or fear in my heart.
Feng Yong walked through this ancient city with five or six chapters.
When I walked to the door of a grain store, I saw that not many people were coming in or out. I stretched my head and looked inside. There were many sacks inside, which looked like they should be grain.
There are also some bags that have been opened, revealing the white rice inside.
"Shopkeeper, what's the price of food in this store?"
"Noble sir, this stone of wheat costs one bushel. If it is millet, it will be more expensive. Add half a bushel."
The shopkeeper of the grain store saw that Feng Yong was dressed in an extraordinary way and that there were several people following behind him. He knew that this person must be an unusual person, so he hurriedly bowed and smiled to welcome him.
"This price..." Feng Yong raised his eyebrows, "Compared with the year before, it's a little worse."
"It's far behind. A few years ago, I said it would cost three pins and one stone."
The shopkeeper looked at Feng Yong carefully with a questioning look on his face, not knowing what he was thinking.
Feng Yong touched his body and took out a felt cloth note, with a look of regret on his face, "I haven't exchanged this note for the felt cloth yet. It seems that I can't buy it today. I'll come back later."
After saying that, he turned around and left.
"My lord, wait a minute!" The shopkeeper's sharp eyes saw the notes in Feng Yong's hand, and he quickly stopped and came forward, "What your lord is holding are Hanzhong's woolen cloth notes?"
"Exactly, what?"
"Can I let the villain have a look?"
"Give."
Feng Yong handed over the ticket.
The shopkeeper took it carefully, first put it in front of his nose and smelled the ink, and then carefully looked at the words "Fifty pieces of fine woolen cloth, change on sight" on it.
Turning it over again and looking at the back, I saw the words on the back: "It expires on May 30th at the unitary hour, and it will be invalid after expiration."
There is also a line of strange symbols in the bottom corner that I cannot understand.
"It is indeed true. This quality of paper and this quality of calligraphy and ink cannot be imitated by others. Moreover, it has not expired and can be used."
The shopkeeper nodded and said.
Feng Yong was slightly dissatisfied, "What you say is so rude. Go to the store in Jincheng that specializes in changing woolen cloth. This ticket can be exchanged for fifty pieces of woolen cloth. How can it not be true?"
Nonsense, this is the third batch of bills that I personally saw printed. How could it be fake?
"Yes, you are a mean person and you said the wrong thing."
The shopkeeper smiled apologetically and handed the bill back, "If you really want to buy food, you don't need to exchange for cloth. You can buy it directly with this bill."
"Oh? Just a piece of paper, directly exchanged for food?"
Feng Yong flicked the bills with his fingers and asked.
The shopkeeper watched Feng Tulie playing the notes with a crisp, clicking sound, and his eyelids jumped. He was really worried that the man in front of him had broken the notes - this was worth fifty bolts of woolen cloth!
"You can change it!"
The shopkeeper nodded repeatedly, "If you use this ticket to buy food, I can get it cheaper."
"Oh? What's the point of this?"
Feng Yong asked strangely.
"If you really want to hear it, noble man, please go inside and drink some water, and let Xiao Xiao explain it in detail."
Seeing the notes in Feng Yong's hand, the shopkeeper finally believed that the man in front of him was really a high-roller.
Who doesn't know that Hanzhong woolen cloth tickets are very hard to find in Jincheng nowadays. A ticket with a face value of fifty bolts of woolen cloth is worth at least a hundred bolts of other fabrics.
Those who have woolen cloth notes in their hands are not simple people.
"Forget it, I'll just listen to what you have to say."
Feng Yong walked into the store, sat down at the shopkeeper's invitation, and asked, "Why can I buy it cheaper with this ticket?"
The shopkeeper personally poured a bowl of water and delivered it to Feng Yong, then went back and sat across from Feng Yong, "Don't nobles come to Jincheng often?"
"How do you know?"
"If you come to Jincheng often, how could you not know that Hanzhong's woolen cloth bills are the most useful in Jincheng?"
The shopkeeper smiled and explained, "On a ticket, it says how much woolen cloth can be exchanged for. It is the actual amount. It is not ambiguous at all. This woolen cloth is a rare commodity. There is no way to buy it. Even if you want to buy it, you can't buy it."
There are only a few hundred looms, and the raw materials are seasonal and not available year-round, so shipments are inherently small.
However, the wool cloth produced was to be supplied to the entire Han Dynasty, and a large part of it was probably circulated to Wei and Wu by the old demon Zhuge last year. Of course, it was a rare commodity.
Rare items will command a premium, of course.
"I see."
Feng Yong nodded, "The way you put it, if you hold this ticket, wouldn't you be able to go to all the shops in Jincheng?"
"Not to mention all of Jincheng, but even some counties close to Jincheng, you can go there."
The shopkeeper smiled and said, with a look of regret on his face, "But it's close to Jincheng, and it won't work any further away. After all, this ticket has a time limit. After the time limit, it will be invalid. I don't know what Hanzhong
What do people think."
What else can you think about? Of course, it is because papermaking technology and printing technology must be continuously improved.
Although it seems that no one can imitate it now, it does not mean that you can sit back and relax.
Only when the three technologies of ink making, paper making, and printing are fully mature and extremely difficult for others to imitate can we relax this expiration date.
"This is not something we outsiders can know." Feng Yong smiled and then said, "In that case, I will just use this ticket to buy it."
With that said, he handed over the ticket just now and continued, "I have just come from other places, and I am not very familiar with Jincheng. I heard that the Prime Minister was about to go south, and I thought that the price of food in Jincheng would be like the year before last.
It’s skyrocketed like that. I didn’t expect it to be so cheap.”
"Don't dare to go up."
The shopkeeper stretched out his hand to take the note, feeling very happy. When Feng Yong said this, he was willing to explain a few more words, "It was because the price increase was too sharp the year before last, but who knew it was a rumor, and in the end it caused a lot of harm."
Everyone has to close their doors."
"Last year, there was another big harvest in Shu, and no one was short of food. Besides, Nanzhong..."
The shopkeeper babbled to the south, with a look of disdain in his eyes, "How many laborers were sold to Hanzhong last year? The rebels couldn't even defeat the people of the militia. Once the army passes by, is there any need to say whether we will win or lose?"
He said, shaking his head, "So the price of food cannot rise that much. The current price is only due to the lean years. If the nobles had come two or three months later, I'm afraid it would have been even lower."
Feng Yong nodded and said, "In the past two years, the Han Dynasty has indeed harvested a lot of food. Then Feng Langjun...hey!"
He didn't say anything, he just glanced at the shopkeeper.
Unexpectedly, the shopkeeper's expression changed, and he laughed and said, "This Feng Langjun... haha!"
Feng Tubeng saw that the shopkeeper also imitated him and said this, but he refused to say more. He couldn't help but was startled and thought to himself, I can't talk about myself. What do you mean?
But he didn't know that the shopkeeper also didn't know how to comment on Feng Langjun, a Jincheng native who had mixed reviews.
If you want to say that he is good, as a grain seller, the shopkeeper must not be able to say it out loud. Even after the war, the price of grain did not dare to increase. Why not just be grateful to him?
What's better?
But if you want to say that he is bad, you cannot say it in front of others.
How many people had enough to eat last year because of him? If I cursed someone here, if word got out, would this food store still be open?